The Secret to career longevity at CM

Having raced into Spring and successfully navigated another financial and fiscal year end, it really does feel like time is flying by. With deadlines met, we’ve taken a moment to pause and consider — specifically the value of longevity of service within our fantastic team at CM.

At the heart of our success over the past quarter-century has been our team’s focus on exceeding our clients’ expectations through our commitment to traditional values, personal service, and tailor-made solutions. We’ve also enjoyed an excellent reputation as a firm that trains, develops and nurtures accountants using the CM Approach, the firm’s highly popular and successful training and development programme. In that time, we’ve grown to become one of the largest independent chartered accountancy practices in the Isle of Man with a current team of close to 70 staff.

Most of CM’s senior team started their accountancy journey with us, and eight of our directors have been with the firm for at least 19 years. One of our admin team, Michelle Kewley boasts 30 years’ service, and we’re privileged to have retained Company Administrator Shaun Wilde for 32 years. In a world where employees no longer consider ‘jobs for life’, we think they’re some pretty impressive numbers.

So, what’s the importance of this longevity of service? Having this internal asset of experience and knowledge plays a key part in shaping our stable, nurturing and high-performing culture. People tend to stay longer with an employer when they feel valued, respected, and supported.

Just ask one of our Directors, Denise Harris:

“When I started with CM as a trainee fresh from university, I had no practical experience of working in accountancy. The all-round training I received didn’t pigeonhole me in one department for months on end. Rather, it allowed me to experience not only practical accountancy in terms of accounts preparation, VAT and tax, but also meant I was dealing with much more complex matters involving our international Trust and Corporate clients.

“Over the years, I have been encouraged to take on more responsibility and develop and strengthen my skills whilst continuing to work on a broad spectrum of clients. The variety of the work on a day-to-day basis keeps things interesting. I have also been fortunate to build up great relationships with my clients and work with a number of brilliant trainees, which is why the role continues to interest and challenge me on a daily basis.”

With her career spanning 21 years at CM, Denise is well-placed to comment.

We’ve always been acutely aware of the benefits of investing in our people at all stages of their careers at CM and we’re just as keen to invest in our future: at any one time, we employ between 25–30 trainees.

As an independent firm, the great thing about CM for anyone wanting to become a successful accountant is that we can be flexible in terms of who we take on and how we develop them.

Like other firms, we fully support our trainees: paying for their training and exams, providing study leave and offering ongoing support throughout.

Unlike other firms, however, our CM Approach ensures that all trainees gain hands-on experience in all aspects of accountancy and fiduciary work.

This means that, unlike many other practices where audit is the only training on offer, CM people qualify as skilled accountancy and fiduciary service practitioners, who have developed their skillset across all service lines.

The result? We not only produce great accountants — we also develop staff with superior technical skills, stronger commercial awareness, and elevated problem-solving abilities.

Better for them. Better for us.

Over our 25 years, we’ve found that when we provide the capacity and support to develop within the company, our team are likely to stick around for the long term. And that’s one thing we do know all about.

Interested in building a career at CM? We’re always interested in hearing from school leavers, recent graduates, and qualified ACCA or ACA accountants ready to take the next step.

Please contact us at careers@cmiom.com for more information.